A Labor of Love: Washington State Horticulture Club
Photos and Writing by Claire Martin-Tellis
The Washington State University Horticulture Club pairs with four horticulture related majors and a minor. Students grow plants and maintain the greenhouses by Ferdinand’s Ice Cream Shoppe on campus. Many of the members are passionate about what they do in those greenhouses on the hill. I wanted to capture the daily process of growing the plants, the variety grown and the large amount the greenhouse holds.
I wandered throughout three greenhouses to understand the amount of work that goes into growing hundreds of plants each semester. On the day the photos were taken, May 19, 2018, the club was filling trays to plant white petunia seedlings for their final sale of the year. They must plant new seedlings before each sale, because the ones from the previous sale grow too big. At the start of each semester the club starts fresh and grows new plants in the greenhouses.
Club member Dakota McFadden sports the WSU Horticulture Club sweatshirt at a Spring 2018 club meeting.
Red geraniums blossom in the far side of the greenhouse by Ferdinand’s Ice Cream Shoppe. Club advisor James Holden says the plants bloom like crazy when the sun comes out.
Club member Dakota McFadden distributes the soil across the tray, the first step to planting seedlings.
Club member Morgan Riley levels the tray, the second step to planting seedlings.
Fall 2017-Spring 2018 Club Vice President Emma McGinty plants the seedlings in the leveled trays of soil. Today the club is working with white petunias.
Rows of Cougar Red Tomatoes span several tables of the greenhouse. WSU Researcher Dr. Darrel Bienz developed the tomato for the Pullman climate
The Cougar Red Tomatoes run for $1 a piece at the Horticulture Club sales. The next sale is for Washington State graduation in the beginning of May.
Hanging basket combination plants will be sold at the graduation sale on May 4.
The club starts from scratch at the beginning of each semester. Everything in the greenhouses now was grown from the beginnig of the 2018 Spring semester at WSU, according to club advisor James Holden.
Pink Fuchsias are popular at the club sales, according to advisor James Holden.